Objective: This article presents an update on cyclic vomiting syndrome, a potentially exhausting disorder that can occur in children, adolescents, and adults and and has a huge impact on the quality of life. A structured literature search was conducted to explore the current knowledge about antipsychotics in the treatment of cyclic vomiting syndrome. A case report is presented of a 15-year-old boy with refractory cyclic vomiting syndrome (ICD-10 criteria), who finally responded to a unique combination of risperidone and amitriptyline.
Data sources: A literature search of English articles was performed in November 2015 using PubMed and the Cochrane Library with cyclic vomiting syndrome, cyclic vomiting, risperidone, and antipsychotics as key words. All types of publications were included. The publication period covered a span from 1976 to 2014.
Study selection and data extraction: In total, 13 articles were found. After screening the title and abstract, only 2 were selected.
Results: In the current literature, only the use of chlorpromazine in the treatment of cyclic vomiting syndrome is mentioned. The possible underlying working mechanism of chlorpromazine is not clarified.
Conclusions: Antipsychotics are hardly mentioned in the literature with regard to their antiemetic properties. Antipsychotics like risperidone, and its unique combination with amitriptyline, might be an important alternative to achieve a satisfactory treatment result in refractory cases of cyclic vomiting syndrome.